2016 has been a prolific making year for me. All together, I sewed or knitted 100 items, including 24 garments for myself, 45 for others (mostly baby presents and bandanas for Zamboni), and 31 for the house. Every year I like to reflect back on what I’ve made, what worked, and what didn’t. Thanks to Crafting a Rainbow for the annual inspiration! You can see my previous roundups here: 2014, 2015.
Most of my sewing was focused on others this year. 37% of what I made was baby clothes, thanks in large part to a pre-move stash busting marathon. I also did a decent amount of household sewing (31% of all sewing), including a ton of curtains, napkins, and placemats. For myself I made 9 dresses, 7 shirts, 2 pairs of pants, and just 1 skirt (yet to be blogged). I really focused on separates a lot more than in the past. And now, the top 5 hits, misses, and life highlights…
First up are the hits. From left to right, top to bottom:
- Denim Granville. This shirt always seems to be in the dirty laundry hamper. I love that it can be dressed down with jeans or up with a skirt and booties.
- Flannel Granville. I have been loving this shirt this fall and winter. The fabric is starting to pill already, but hopefully it will make it through next winter as well.
- Jasper Sweater. This sweater is super comfy and warm. It’s also starting to pill. I probably need to upgrade my fabrics now that so many of my clothes are turning out well.
- Ginger Jeans. Jeans. Finally. I wear these every weekend. The second pair is cut out and ready to be assembled.
- Cora Running Tights (yet to be blogged). I made another pair of running tights using my serger. They turned out much better than my first pair, and are my go-to cold-weather running pants.
And, of course there were also some misses…From left to right:
- Salme Olsen Dress. This fabric makes me look washed out, so I’ve only worn the dress twice.
- Simplicity 1716 Shirt. The seam lines on this shirt fall in an awkward place, so I’m always fiddling with it when I wear it.
- Men’s Finlayson Sweater. Good idea, nice fabric, poor fit. I will give this one another try.
- Jiffy Dress (unblogged). This was a disaster. I used a combination of knit and woven fabrics that didn’t work well together. All in all, the dress is too small, and I never bothered finishing it.
For this recap, I’m also going to include a few non-sewing-related life highlights, as this was a pretty big year in my “real life” as well.
- We bought our first house.
- We hosted Thanksgiving for the first time.
- I quit my first (and only) job since college.
- I earned my master’s degree.
- I passed my two comprehensive exams, en route to the PhD.
And there you have it! 2016 was a good sewing year for me. I wish I could say as much for the world at large. On to the next….Happy 2017!
